The present invention relates to saw mills and, more particularly, to those of the type known as scragg mills, wherein a log is moved between two circular saws so that the log is cut into elongated boards on both sides.
Typical scragg mills can be seen with reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,946,074 and 4,287,798. In such prior art mills, each of the two circular saws is supported, along with its drive motor and a respective conveyor for carrying off boards cut by the particular blade, on individual husk frames which are mounted so as to be movable towards and away from a log carriage. So as to coordinate movement of the husk frames, a sprocket chain or screw-type drive is interconnected between the two husk frames of the husk frame assembly.
Additionally, in view of the act that logs are not usually straight, but rather have a certain degree of bowing to them, before feeding of the log, via the log carrier, to the circular saw blades, it is customary to turn the log, via a log turner, so that the bowing of the log is oriented in a vertical plane. Previously noted U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,798 shows a log turner which is designed to support a log received from a supply of logs, and, while supporting same, turn it into its proper orientation for being transported by the log carriage through the saw blades. However, the turn over device of this patent is designed for use with an overhead log carriage mechanism and is not suitable for use for log carriages which carry the log upon a supporting beam.
Various forms of devices for turning logs that are to be transported upon an underlying log carriage are known; see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 106,160; 424,385; and 3,981,393. However, log turners as shown in these patents do not support the log themselves during the turning operation, thus rendering the turning operation more difficult and time-consuming, particularly when the mill utilizes a spiked-beam type log carrier.